Teasing Indian Agency, Tribal Voice, and Persistence from the Record

Teasing Indian Agency, Tribal Voice, and Persistence from the Record

Prof. Cary Miller, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Department of HistoryProf. David Beck, University of Montana, Department of Native American Studies

This course will examine Indian responses to federal Indian policy in the 19th and 20th centuries with a focus on the roles that tribal leaders and tribes played in shaping that policy. Despite the handicap of working from positions of weakness through much of this time period, tribal leaders worked hard, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, to proactively and reactively shape the futures of their communities in political, social and economic terms. Teasing Indian agency and voice from the record can be difficult, but is not only possible, but increasingly central to studies of tribal communities and individuals. Students will be encouraged to find ways to incorporate Indian agency, tribal voice, and tribal persistence into their own work, no matter the subject or time period. Field trips to the Federal Archives, the Marquette University Archives, the Wisconsin Historical Society (in Madison or Milwaukee Branch) and the Field Museum of Natural History may be included. View Syllabus.